The Santa Barbara Foresters’ head coach, Bill Pintard, needed infielders, and SBCC’s Tommy Holguin needed at-bats. It turned into a match made in heaven over the first three games of the Foresters’ season: Holguin racked up seven hits in 11 at bats (.636 batting average) over the weekend and was virtually flawless in the field to make the most of the opportunity.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” said Holguin of his red-hot start this summer. “At the end of this past season, I was really feeling my swing, and it kind of just carried over.”
After a productive career at Santa Barbara High, Holguin lacked options as far as college baseball was concerned and ended up at SBCC, where he hit .283 in his freshman season. As a Santa Barbara resident, Holguin — who’s completing a rare trifecta playing for Santa Barbara High, SBCC, and now the Foresters — is well aware of the Foresters’ legacy of national championship success.